I do hesitate at buying the one on ebay since it's only $35 less than on Dell.com after shipping AND I don't know the status of the warranty. So what does everybody think? Is $450 w/ free shipping a good deal on the U2410 or do you think it will go back down around $400 before Christmas? Seems like everyone likes the Dell better than the Asus PA246Q for $470?

The U2410 is now up to $479, still less than the normal $499-$549 range, but you missed the deals. You can always try to wait for the next deal I suppose, but that may be too long for your occasion.

One downside with monitors that support native AdobeRGB and "emulated" sRGB is the possible lag in sRGB mode when you are playing games. But if this is for work then AdobeRGB should still be a priority.

The Model M is not for the faint of heart. You either like them or hate them.

The U2410 is now up to $479, still less than the normal $499-$549 range, but you missed the deals

Yeah, I had the U2410 in my cart last night for $450 but I didn't know if my EPP code would get me a discount or not. I talked to Dell online chat and was told that the sale would last until today at midnight. I took that as "the monitor will be $450 until 12/6 at midnight" so I held off on the purchase until I could get my EPP code from work today. I'ts not a huge deal, Dell charges tax which brought the total up to $475 and newegg sells the monitor for $489 shipped.After reading over newegg reviews of the Asus PA246Q and seeing all the people complaining about dead pixels and such, I think I'll go with the U2410. It's got all the same connectivity as the Asus model plus a card reader which would be nice. Now it's just a waiting game. I wish we could get a P/H-IPS monitor that is LED backlit in this price range for the energy and heat savings. I hate being forced to decide between the Dell montor which was released in 2009 and the Asus model that was realeased this year with the same backlight and seems to have slight QC problems.

The U2410 is now up to $479, still less than the normal $499-$549 range, but you missed the deals

Yeah, I had the U2410 in my cart last night for $450 but I didn't know if my EPP code would get me a discount or not. I talked to Dell online chat and was told that the sale would last until today at midnight. I took that as "the monitor will be $450 until 12/6 at midnight" so I held off on the purchase until I could get my EPP code from work today. I'ts not a huge deal, Dell charges tax which brought the total up to $475 and newegg sells the monitor for $489 shipped.After reading over newegg reviews of the Asus PA246Q and seeing all the people complaining about dead pixels and such, I think I'll go with the U2410. It's got all the same connectivity as the Asus model plus a card reader which would be nice. Now it's just a waiting game. I wish we could get a P/H-IPS monitor that is LED backlit in this price range for the energy and heat savings. I hate being forced to decide between the Dell montor which was released in 2009 and the Asus model that was realeased this year with the same backlight and seems to have slight QC problems.

I just opened my U2412M with one dead pixel. Can't do much about it as it is just a result of mass production. If you go read forums like [H] or Anand you will find complaints about dead/stuck/bright pixels, uneven backlighting, etc on any brand. The important thing about the Ultrasharp's and the PA246Q/PA248Q are that they have zero bright dot (dark pixel >6 for Ultrasharps so looks like I am SOL) guarantee where you can exchange them. Dell's exchange experience has been good but I have no experience on the Asus.

The Model M is not for the faint of heart. You either like them or hate them.

Just wanted to conclude this thread by saying that I caught the Dell U2410 on sale for $400 yesterday. Total cost was $420 (damn sales tax) and I'm very satisfied with the purchase. It's too bad I had to buy a monitor with 2009 era tech in it since it seems like we're on the cusp of seeing 10-bit IPS monitors with LED backlighting very soon. (eIPS LED screens are already easy to find)

I think my friend will really like it. I also figured that the U2410 (97% Adobe RGB) was worth the extra cost over the Asus PA248Q (only 100% sRGB) since we're talking about MY engagement photos. (self-centered, I know) I figured the better monitor I gave him, the better the pictures would look

Congrats on your purchase! I'm sure your friend will love the monitor. I hopped on the $1049 deal for the U3011 for my sister. Yes there are rumors that the U2413 and a U3013 will come out in March. But i'm sure you won't be seeing the new models with the deals that is going on now.

For those that are looking for a 24" monitor, the U2410 is still going for $399 RIGHT NOW.

Don't stress out about the 10bit output vs 8bit panel type stuff. Unless he is running a professional video card capable of 10bit output (FireGL) with specific programs (such as Photoshop with 30bit option enabled), he wont be able to utilize a 10bit output capable monitor.

Are you sure that's right? What about monitor (OSD) settings such as contrast and color control? They might map two difference input values to the same output value if the output is 8bit.

Yes but remember, there is a 8bit colour output mode and 10bit colour output mode. In the case of the U2410, it is capable of 10bit colour output but it is achieved via dithering. Its not user setable option. You will need a 10bit colour output video card AND program to do that. On top of that, 10bit output from the video card is only available via opengl and directx.

In addition, the monitor is not doing a dumb conversion of 8bit to 10bit . With colour, the black point of 8bit will be mapped to the black point of 10bit and this is the same with white, at the same time keeping in mind the colour space you are in (ie sRGB vs Adobe RGB). The result is you will get all the additional shades in between, however, that will only be apparent when you start manipulating the image.

Sorry everyone, just wanted to confirm something. I was looking at Wikipedia regarding 30-bit color. (10-bits output per color = 30-bit color) The page says that HDMI 1.3 and Nvidia GPU's manufactured after 2006 support 30-bit color. (I assume AMD has had 30-bit support since the 6xxx series?) HDMI 1.3 also supports 2560 x 1600 resolution with 30-bit color and 60Hz refresh rate. Anything wrong about these statements?

Sorry everyone, just wanted to confirm something. I was looking at Wikipedia regarding 30-bit color. (10-bits output per color = 30-bit color) The page says that HDMI 1.3 and Nvidia GPU's manufactured after 2006 support 30-bit color. (I assume AMD has had 30-bit support since the 6xxx series?) HDMI 1.3 also supports 2560 x 1600 resolution with 30-bit color and 60Hz refresh rate. Anything wrong about these statements?

Everything you said looks fine to me. I don't know for sure about the AMD stuff though. I read the 5970 had the right output, but other 5XXX cards don't. It may be hit or miss still.

Remember, these cards may have hardware support for deep color, but drivers probably don't allow you to use it in most cases. It really is a better idea to go with a workstation card to avoid all that mess if at all possible.

Remember, these cards may have hardware support for deep color, but drivers probably don't allow you to use it in most cases.

How am I supposed to know if that's happening? I have an Nvidia NVS 3100M professional GPU in my work laptop and see nothing related to color bit depth adjustments. Is there some sort of test (without a colorimeter) that I can use to determine if the display is indeed showing the Adobe RGB spectrum it's calibrated for and capable of? My friend uses Adobe CS5.5 and I know Photoshop has 30-bit color support so the software end is taken care of. This Nvidia help topic suggests that Windows Aero will be disabled when 30-bit color is enabled, but I'm not sure how/if that will happen when the Dell U2410 is a secondary monitor to his TN laptop screen which obviously doesn't do 30-bit color. I guess I'm still trying to justify why I bought him a $400 monitor if it will never be able to display more than 16.7 million colors (8-bit output) unless he upgrades to a system with a Quadro or FirePro GPU.